Colony

This entry is part of the PBM List.

Costs: Free
Email: ahiuan@yahoo.com [ok]
URL: https://groups.yahoo.com/group/colony_ic/info
URL: https://groups.yahoo.com/group/colony_ooc/info
Type: Space, futuristic
Last-Update: 2009Feb09
Keywords: free, open-ended, email, human, space, rpg

Description

To apply to join this game, please e-mail a creative writing sample (at least six good paragraphs including narrative and dialogue) to me at ahiuan@yahoo.com.

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Colony

'Mr. B,' the only name the reclusive man has ever been known by, has for years applied his substantial financial resources to the research and building of the largest spacecraft on planet Earth. It has been designed with three major compartments; the first for himself and his hand-picked professionals, the second for a year's supply of most anything anyone would need to begin a new life, and the third for the randomly chosen hundred 'just plain folks' over whom he would rule on his new world. For you see, Mr. B. has foreseen and planned for the end of civilization as we know it on Earth ... and as the world's governments stand poised for the final button pushing that will begin WWIII and effectively end all life, Mr. B. has dispersed his gatherers around the English-speaking world on June 10th to sedate and bring back his 100 to be placed into cryogenic preservation for the long voyage ahead.

The year is 2032. The spacecraft lifts off with all passengers in stasis and the onboard computer's autopilot heads for the carefully chosen new home in space, leaving Earth behind to blow itself up at will. Two-hundred and seventy-three years later, a small chunk of asteroid collides with the spacecraft, dents an exterior panel and, just as Fate (and the game's creator) would have it, short-circuits a few wires which short-circuit a few more wires and causes the failure of the cryo units of the first compartment. Another five- hundred and thirty-three years later, the spacecraft lands at its destination and the computers begin the process of deactivating and opening the cryo units of the third compartment. One-hundred 'just plain folks' (characters between the ages of 15 and 45, please) then begin to awaken and emerge into this strange new world with no memory of how they've come to be here and the mystery of sixty-seven mummified human corpses found in another of the mysterious craft's compartments.

What will these people do with themselves as they awaken to find themselves amidst strangers and on a strange world? What surprises await them? Will they get along, cooperate to survive on this new world? Or will they fight amongst themselves for whatever individual reasons they may have? Are they alone on this world? Or not? Are they alone in this area of space? Or not? What sort of world is this? And what sort of new world will they build here?

And a little hint as to game-play progression ..... We've been playing for over three years now and many plotlines have developed nicely.. Needless to say, some characters are getting along and some are not. There's been a major evacuation, a nice little coup replete with kidnapping, discoveries of a human mountain population and a non-human tree-dwelling population, a city on the western continent, a settlement of folks banished from the city, and a matriarchal population on the coast. Three types of dangerous creatures roam various areas near the ships' settlements. There have been many injuries, a spreading illness brought back from the mountains, and some murders and attempted murders with a bit of torture on the side. Yet another little coup in the first ship's campsite has resulted in mass pandemonium ... and the situation in the second ship's under-levels' battle and campsite is precarious to say the least. On the lighter, softer side, little cliques and relationships have formed, both friendships and more-than-friendships, luxury items as well as necessities have been located and put to use, and there exists a wide range of personalities we love intermixing and intermingling. Finally, there *is* a stabilizing force on this new world ... the Native population in sync with the omnipresent golden glow of the air (God/GM <g>) does step in occasionally (*very* rarely since I'm just another player, too! ) to right wrongs and maintain some semblance of balance when events tend to spiral out of control.

We have great fun here ... all due to our players' *extremely vivid* imaginations!

Thus began (and continues) the tale of Colony on June 26th, 2005, and game-play has progressed into the midday and evening hours of the fourth day of the ships' passengers' lives on their new world and some characters are posting for the dawn of Day 5. Side story-lines, subplots, twists and turns, and numerous NPCs have been created, and many more possibilities and opportunities still exist. During our three-plus years of game-play, we've remained a core group of creative writers and are seeking other such dedicated folks to give their time and effort to build upon what we've begun (our posting rate ranges from about 50-100+ posts per month (though lately around 30-40) ... please be willing and able to post twice per week if game-play calls for it). Another ship has been added to game-play for the convenience of new players.

Colony is a free-form, open-ended PBeM RPG written in narrative, third-person, past-tense style with tags, and an emphasis upon *very* leisurely character development and interaction. Though rather a collaborative fiction writing effort, players maintain complete control over their own characters and post from their characters' own unique perspectives and points of view. The only limit to the storyline is the limits of the players' imaginations and creativity (within some semblance of reason and the game's basic guidelines, please!). This game has been given a rating of MA -- please have a Yahoo profile available. Players must be at least eighteen years of age (current members range in age from early/mid twenties to early 50s), considering the game's content to date and that we've no idea where this story might lead us from here.

      


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Greg Lindahl